A Game
by kcluv4everxoxo
Summary: Sera is a young girl who has been chosen a tribute for The Hunger Games. No confidence, a bad family background, and a lower district are all things the will bring her down and maybe kill her.
1. Chapter 1

"Sera, don't let your flame die out in that arena," says LuLla, her bottom lip trembling. She may be upset but I keep a composed demeanor,as always. But on the inside, I am sobbing and wailing and screaming, and scared. But not on the outside.

"I am ready, I have been ready, I will honor our family, and if I don't return, I will have died an honorable death," I want to, but I can't believe what I say is true, since it isn't, no part of it is true. I won't return, and I will die in the blood bath, or be hunted down easily by the Careers.

"Don't say that, you will return, I know you will, there is no possible way you won't," says Talulla, ever so confident, but I know inside she feels the same way I do, I know that she knows I won't be back, these are my last, flat, inspiration-less words to her.

A shame really, that my last words are wasted on lies when I have much more articulate ones in my head that will never be shared, never be told. I won't have stories to tell my stories, or grandchildren to not tell stories to. I won't have a life to hold in my heart until I die, I'll have nothing.

I'll have a death, but no life to flash before my eyes in the final moments. I've led a pathetic life, and now it is too late to fix that, I'm being shipped off to my death, bye life, bye breath.

"Time is up," says a Peacekeeper in aver gruff voice. He leads Talulla towards the door. Inside I am sobbing, I don't want her to leave me here alone so they can drag me off to my death.

"LuLla," I say, just as she is about to leave, "Yes?" she replies, "Good bye," I say, and that moment you hear a small whimper in my voice, you can hear me getting choked up, you hear the hurt I feel inside, and you feel bad.

"I said time's up," says the Peacekeeper, you can almost hear how he feels bad for me to, how he feels the emotion jolt through him like he is being electrocuted, but not quite.

I put my head in my hands, that was my one and only visitor, but in my heart I only long for one person, mom.

"Will you except a visitation from," he pauses and looks down to read the name off of a sheet of paper, "Aura Larkspur?"

When he says the name a switch goes off in my head... Mom! "Of-of-of course!" I am glad one good thing can finally happen to me for once! This is the first time I have seen mom in years, since she tried to kill her self.

Sera, honey," she says as she walks in. You can hear the relief in her voice that I let her in, "I am so sorry I chose not to come home years ago and be with my daughters! I should have been spending time with you instead of staying in the hospital and being depressed! You have to promise that you'll be back so I can fix that, you have to," she says everything so rushed, it takes some time to process.

"I cannot promise you anything, and I am sorry I won't return," I say. She is about to cry, and it feels like I am the only one who knows how to keep my composure, even though I am worst off.

"I want to give you a token for the arena, since you can only have one thing," she says, "I hope you don't already have a token. Do you?" she asks.

"No, of course not, I was beginning to wonder if I was going to have one," I say, casually, but you can feel the tension in the room, she feels like I haven't fully forgiven her, and maybe deep down I haven't.

"Here," she says as she hands me father red- brown leather hunting gloves, on of the last things left from the ancestors. I look at them, and then look back at her. I see the hopeful look on her face and can't help feeling grateful.

Even looking crappy with dry lips and bagged eyes and pale skin, she still looks beautiful. Even through colorless hair, purple lips and tired eyes, she stills looks vibrant in my eyes, everything I wish to be.

"Thank you so much! I know how much these mean to you!" I look down at the gloves, and we sit quietly just thinking. We have half way mended our relationship, finally.

"Times up," says the gruff voiced peacekeeper, as he nearly drags my mother out of the room. She has a look that says she believes in my and I just nod my head on short quick time and say, "Good bye."

These are my real final words to her and the first ones in years. This is when I leave the safety of district eleven for the horrible capitol where you are always watched and judged.

The place where the citizens decide if you live or die, the place where 23 of 24 tributes will be prepared for their slaughter, and the place where 1 of 24 is prepped for a life of wealth and fame.

The place where I will slowly begin to die, day by day, minute by minute, second by second.


	2. Chapter 2

Here I go, time to leave, time to start on the path to my death. Time to leave my safe life here to go to the arena, where I could never be safe, where I will die so easily.

I can only now imagine someone watching me with in my last heavy, short breath. I can imagine LuLla watching, sobbing. And mom, crying, seeing it taking it in, going into a rage.

"Hi, I'm Quill, your escort!" says a young women excitedly, breaking into my thoughts, intruding. I can't help but feel annoyed.

She has golden skin, but not a natural golden, it is obviously died. She has golden hair, made out to be a pair of giant lips on top of her head, bright red lips, and shiny gold eyelids. Her eyes are blood reds, just as her lips, and she has long golden porcupine quills jetting from her back... She has on a golden jumpsuit, skin tight with a small red necklace that is metal and tight around her neck, like a band.

"Uh... Hi..." I say. She gets my vibe and tones it down a bit.

"I am here to help you get anywhere you need to be on time," she says, still obviously excited.

"Aren't those kind of people usually pretty uptight, you know, all fancy and stuff like that?" I ask, I truly thought they were all like that... I guess not...

"Oh, honey, not all, some are cool like me, some are here to be a friend and show you around, like me. Do you want to be led around?" she asks, obviously trying to make nice.

"Do I have to, because if I don't I am not going to," I say flatly, I don't have to make nice just because she is trying to.

"Well, honestly, you can except out help, or you can die. It is your choice," she says, taking the coldness from my last sentence putting it into hers, and intensifying it.

"I guess I'll be showed around then," I say, this lady is scary when she wants to be; obviously she is good at manipulation, a master even.

"Okay, this is where our tour starts then!" she says, she obviously knows she has won, and is happy about it.

That tour sucked. It was boring. I want to go home. I can't die, don't want to. I don't want anyone I know to watch me get slaughtered. I don't want to feel my last breath. Don't want to see my life flash before my eyes.

But then again, I don't want to live either. I know if I do I will be burdened with nightmares for the rest of my life, long nights where I can't sleep. I defiantly don't want that.

Well, I live or die, but I'm sure I'll die. What does a girl like me, 15 years of age, stand against a career who has been trained all their life? None. At all.

I go out to the entertainment room where I find the male tribute, Ash, watching recordings of the previous games.

"Geez, we haven't even got to the capitol, you should lay _off,_" I say. He is just bringing all of my scared thoughts that took so long to shake off back. Thanks _Ash._

"Oh, shut up, you big baby. I don't know about you, but I was reaped, and I'm in this to win it," he responds. He sounds like a huge jerk, and from what I know of him, he is. All I know is he is a player with girls.

And a cheater at everything he does. He is just a big jerk, I guess. I think he will group up with the Careers, he is just as brutal and bad as them, and he seems like he would wring my neck in a quick second.

Am I scared, yes? Does it show, no. I am too good for that, too good for weakness. I am weak, but it won't show through my armor of skin. It never does. My skin has grown too thick, just a callous covering my whole body so nothing beneath can ever get hurt.

"I think I should kill you first," I say, but I can tell he doesn't believe I could kill him, but I know I can, if I really wanted to. But I think he'll be slightly more cautious around me, he believes me only slightly, but I'll make him believe fully, I know I will.

"Oh really, short stop?" he says, obviously teasing me. He is just _that _jerk who always has to take your one insecurity and bring it out. He better get scared because if he keeps it up like this, he will be gone first.

"I may be short, but I am strong, and you better believe that. No, if you don't, you will in the arena when you know…" I say. I don't have to finish that sentence. He already knows what point I am getting at, and I know he is at least slightly intimidated by me.

"Yeah, you sure are short but I doubt you are strong. You can't be strong. Wimps aren't strong. 15 year olds aren't strong," he says, but he doesn't believe what he says. You can tell.

"Oh, but I suppose 17 year old are strong, though, right?" I snap back, and then basically storm out of the room. I am so sick of people never seeing the good things about me, only seeing the imperfections and flaws.

I go into the kitchen to the avoxes and order them to get me anything that can occupy my brain. Anything that will take me away from my horrid life. Anything that will save me, if not momentarily.

The avox brings me back a cup of juice, with a little card explaining what it is. The card reads, "Atropa Bellanova," and below it says, "Causes Hallucination," and that is all.

I quickly chug the drink and order another. When I finish the second, I am not hallucinating, everything is just blurry, and I can't think strait. I go into the entertainment room and flop down onto the couch.

Ash is still there. God, does this kid ever give up? "Are you drugged or something?" he asks. He is messing with me, giving me crap. He really should shut his mouth, because when you aren't thinking strait you do stupid things. Always.

"Aww, shut your mouth," I mean to say, but my words slur so I could sound like anything to him. At this point I honestly don't care. I will be judged, no matter what. I will hurt no matter what.

The last few minutes I am awake all I can hear is Ash laughing and teasing, but then I crash, I'm knocked out. Asleep for hours on end. A non- stop dream of Ash, laughing. Eerily laughing. That is all the dream is. Him eerily laughing and me walking around in a blank white area, with no edges or corners. Lost.


End file.
